After 30 years, Ogle Co. family set to see loved one's killer executed

A long, drawn out chapter in one Ogle County family's life is finally set to close. Almost 30 years ago, Oregon resident Angie Crowley was murdered after getting lost in her car on a road trip in Florida. Her killer is scheduled to pay for the crime with his own life on October 15th.

Since Angie's death, a lot's changed. Her family can't help but wonder how life would be different now if Angie had today's technology; a cell phone, computer or GPS.

"Anyone of those three's invented 27 years ago, or in 1986, we're not talking. This conversation is not happening." -says Angie's brother, Chris Crowley.

After moving to Florida in 1986, Angie Crowley drove to visit a friend over Memorial Day weekend. She took a wrong turn, putting her behind schedule. She stopped at a phone booth to let her friend know she was running late. Chris says she was abducted there by a man named William Happ.

"He took her out of town to a canal and that's where he brutalized her and dumped her in the canal. It was horrific." -he explains.

Her body was found later that day, May 24th, 1986. However, tracking down her killer took six months and then three more years to try him in Florida. Happ's final trial ended with a guilty verdict. He was given the death penalty. Chris believes it fits the crime.

"He made a conscious decision. He decided to break into my sister's car, he decided to kidnap her, he decided to beat her, rape her and then he made the decision to kill her. He made that decision. He could've walked away at any point in time and chose not to."

Florida's governor signed Happ's death warrant only a month ago. Finally closing this 30-year chapter allows Chris, his family and community to focus on grieving.

"That's 27 years of worrying about things that I don't have to worry about anymore. I can go to the cemetery and not look at those headstones and feel like we haven't finished, like 'I've gotten here, but I don't have news to tell you; things are still carrying on the way they were.'"

William Happ's execution date is scheduled for October 15th. Angie would've been 49 years old, this December.